Entrance to the Green Park apartment towers on Bogotá's Eastern Hills. (Photo: Caracol Radio) |
Of course, it hasn't happened. To see for yourself, just look uphill from La Candelaria, where the Externado University is building vertical parking lots on the hillside, albeit apparently outside the Forestry Reserve. And, about ten days ago, a high court ruled that construction of a luxury apartment complex named Green Park in La Calera could go ahead because it was not located inside the forestry reserve.
A traffic jam on the road to La Calera. Apartments near here will only worsen congestion. (Photo: ADN) |
Construction cranes on Bogotá's Eastern Hills. The Externado University is building two towers with almost 500 parking spaces. |
'Bogotá is being renewed here.' This huge lot, where the Spanish government was going to build a cultural center, has sat empty for years. |
Fewer trees and more concrete in the hills will worsen flooding and pollution in Bogotá. Car-based constructions on the hills will make Bogotá's monumental traffic jams even worse. All of which will pile huge costs on the city and citizenry.
Expert courts and curadurias to reinterpret the forestry reserve's borders to facilitate more construction. The hills, which by all rights should be a resource for all all Bogotanos - and particularly for the poor, who can't afford to escape into the countryside - will be progressively privatized by the wealthy.
The empty lot in the center of Bogotá - why don't they build here, instead of deforesting Bogotá's hills? |
Traffic congestion in central Bogotá will only get worse with more construction of auto-dependant projects far from TransMilenio. |
One of the historical center's daily traffic jams. |
By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours
2 comments:
Of course the courts will allow development if it not officially inside the forestry reserve boundary. They can only apply the law. And of course developers will want to build on the hills - for the views !
But in this case, even if the site is outside the reserve, there are real questions about whether it's permitted to build so close to the reserve, whether you can build at such an altitude, on such a steep slope, etc.
And, if not the court, then city officials might take into account the wider impacts on the city.
Best,
mike
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